A journey of psychic discovery

Session 23 – African princess and Shamans

Tim is still sick. A virus laid him low and he’s struggling to get up, so I headed to Oak House on my own again.

‘Have you done something to upset him?’ Mary enquired jokingly.

‘Only if I’d been the bringer of the virus,’ I replied.

There were eight of us including Mary and Zoe. Although present Zoe was not taking the circle as she’s also not well, and needed to slip out to make a call half way through the meeting.

The usual opening prayer was said and Mary checked with us whether we were happy with the format of the circle. Currently we have a mix of short meditations and skills development with the various props she introduces to us. An alternative would be to have longer meditations, focussing more on connecting with our guides, and giving messages from a more mediumistic perspective.

About half the group were in favour of the current format, a few (including me) favoured a mix of alternating week skills and meditation, and others an occasional long meditation.

Given that there seem to be a clear consensus that meditation is the only way to really build and maintain connection with spirit, I can see that at some stage I’ll have to find a group where that’s the focus. For now I’m happy to develop the psychic skills because they are becoming increasingly useful. (I did a reading for my friend at the weekend, which she found very helpful, and one for another friend last week – also helpful). In the meantime I’ve begun meditating at home, managing up to an hour most days.

The most immediate effect has not been more messages but more peace and calm. My dramas are very short-lived, and my sleep is long and undisturbed. I shared my meditative practice with the group.

‘Did you get anything?’ someone asked.

‘For the whole hour I sat today the only thing I got was a pair of pink baby bootees,’ I answered, trying unsuccessfully to disguise my disappointment.

‘Oh, my daughter must be having a girl then,’ one of the member whose daughter’s pregnant said joyously.

It hadn’t occurred to me that it could have had anything to do with anyone in the group, though in truth it didn’t make any sense in my life.

‘OK. Our first activity today is going to be a silent meditation,’ Mary announced. ‘No guidance, just go into the silence and see what you get. About 15-20 minutes. Shall we do it with or without music?’

‘I guess if it’s silent then it should be without music,’ someone suggested, and we all agreed.

It seemed odd listening to the noises at first, the ticking clocks, the birds, the dogs scurrying on the laminate floor on the other side of the door. But as I went deeper the sounds disappeared and I had a thought of Hurricane Herbie.

‘Must remember the name Herbie,’ I reminded myself. Then I asked for a message for one of the group just to see what I’d get, and saw a plate of cooked rice, and a message, put the baby on solids.

I then drifted in that space where I cease to be me, where my body loses all form and I connect with and become the air around me. This only happens when I meditate frequently, and I always wonder why I forget to meditate frequently. In this space everything ceased and I didn’t get any messages, at least not ones I remembered when I came round.

At feedback no-one could take Herbie, and I got cold feet about telling the person I’d got the message for that I thought it was about putting the baby on solids, because I wasn’t sure if the baby I’d seen him with was his, and I didn’t want to appear foolish. So I listened to others trying to make sense of what the rice might mean for me. Even when someone told a story of how important it is to give a message as you get it I held back. I hope the person reads this as we don’t meet for another couple of weeks due to the Easter break.

Interestingly he had a message for me, or rather two. (1) He saw an African princess all dressed up in her fineries being made a fuss of. (2) He saw someone pointing at a book as if to say look in there, and heard the word Shamanism. He wondered whether I need to be researching Shamanism or working with it.

I told the group about my recent attempts to find my African roots and joked that maybe I’m royalty, that I’m really a princess. I also told him that a friend of mine had gone to a Shaman’s day yesterday and we had talked about it, so maybe the message was for her. (When I told her she quickly dismissed it and said the message was definitely for me – I need to look in to Shamanism). It’s not an area I’m particularly interested in.

‘But then you were never particularly interested in mediumship either,’ she reminded me.

Our next exercise was reading photographs, an exercise we did once before in this circle and also in the Thursday one. There were varying degrees of success, and we ended with another trance demonstration from Zoe to gain some words of wisdom from her guide.

It took her a little longer than usual to totally connect with her guide, (maybe because she was a little unwell) and as I watched I marvelled at how quickly this had become common-place to me.

As usual her guide thanked us for being willing to work with them and gave us encouragement to keep adhering to the practices that opens the channels to their communication with us.

After the Easter break I’ll only be going to alternate Monday circle and alternate Thursday ones, and I shall miss seeing members of the group weekly. There is a real closeness in the group and I feel very supported. Any fear or apprehension about looking foolish is in my own head, this is a very supportive place to be.

Are there any practising Shamans out there? How did you get involved? Would you recommend it?

5 thoughts on “Session 23 – African princess and Shamans”

If you read A hero with a thousand faces or The Writers Journey they suggest writers are modern day shamans. Maggie Whitehouse has some interesting things to say on shamanism – also google ayuhuesca and modern shamanism. X

Hi Lizzie How are you. Hope you’re having a lovely bank holiday Monday. I’m having withdrawal symptoms from the group. It’s the first one I’ve missed since I started coming. Going to feel wierd not coming every week. Looking forward to seeing you next week. Px